


Mixed signals

by Barely_Vibing



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), And demisexuality, And grey-A, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Asexual Character, Biromantic Ishimaru Kiyotaka, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, I craved angst so here you go, Let's learn about asexuality, M/M, Mondos trying his best he just has a temper, NSFW text, One Shot, Self-Indulgent, This is so self indulgent I'm projecting through taka so hard, asexual author, no actual nsfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 00:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28590678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Barely_Vibing/pseuds/Barely_Vibing
Summary: Mondo and Taka have been dating for a little while but they're stuck at second base. While Mondo tries to work out a way to get passed it, Taka is trying to work out a way to explain he doesn't want to.~ Features Mondo being unintentionally insensitive. He's a good boy!! really!! he learns!! ~
Relationships: Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo
Comments: 6
Kudos: 129





	Mixed signals

**Author's Note:**

> This fic includes Mondo being a total idiot and completely misreading Taka and thinking he's just shy because he hadn't considered asexuality. (I keep it ambiguous as to what type of asexual for anyones personal hcs)
> 
> ~Things get a lil spicy but it doesn't go anywhere.~
> 
> Also I feel I should mention theres some very very minor *almost-but-not-really-noncon* where Taka almost caves into peer pressure. Just incase that makes anyone uncomfortable i'll put (****) where it starts and when it ends.

Mondo Owada, Ultimate Biker Gang Leader hasn't always been the luckiest guy, in fact you could definitely argue his life was on the shittier side which manifested his occasionally volatile attitude. But if there was one sign that showed things were looking up, it's that he finally managed to get it through Kiyotaka Ishimaru's thick, adorable skull that he was into him.

The best part being that it was mutual. Mondo had suspected it obviously, otherwise he wouldnt have been so brazen with his flirting but it really seemed like Taka straight up didn't know he had a thing for him. He just thought his feelings were normal friend stuff and not _"Oh I wanna get with him."_ feelings. Not to mention he had a habit of saying things he didn't realize sounded sexual or were at the very least extremely suggestive. Like when he told Makoto that "When two people are bare their souls are bare too.". Seriously, coming from anyone else that woulda been a sleazy pick up line but everyone knew it was just Taka being Taka.

But after some blatant flirting, a few months of strategic situations helpfully organized and carried out by a small task force of a few of his classmates, Namely Hina, Leon, Chihiro and Sakura, He reached his goal. Even though the martial artist wasn't actually involved, her and Taka just spend so much time together training, she got worked into the plans and ended up inadvertently being extremely helpful. 

Mondo wasn't willing to keep pining, either he got turned down or he got what he wanted, he wasn't gonna be a pussy about it. Fortunately he got what he wanted and even though Taka's a total prude it was still a victory nonetheless. 

Although there was a little part of him that itched after their dates. Not to mention the blue balls because their hookups always abruptly ended right as things were starting to get good. Not that he didn't expect this. He knew what he was getting into when he realised he had a thing for the guy who meticulously cleans his boots everyday and uses every bit of his free time to study. But Mondo really thought his charms would have worked by now. Maybe he's doing something wrong. Is it because he's a guy? Maybe his techniques only work on girls.

Sure they've only been dating a few weeks but that hasn't been an issue before with the girls he's been with. But then again, he guessed his relationships with those girls were more on the casual side. Not all of them but the kind of girls attracted to the leader of a biker gang all tend to act a certain way to get his attention. And it works with him being a horny teenager and all.

But Taka's different. In just about every single way. Never in a million years did he think he would ever be attracted to someone as uptight and rule oriented as Taka. But for every one thing that annoys him there's three more things he just loves. How passionate he is, how excited he gets discovering something no matter how obvious it was to other people. How confident he is, how much he genuinely cares about everyone and sees the best in them.

He also really liked Taka's whole stern, authoritative thing but he wasn't willing to unpack that yet.

Yep, safe to say that Mondo Owada is thoroughly whipped. 

Now if he could just get into his pants...

He once again had the perfect opportunity. There they were, on Mondos bed, making out. Taka was on his back, a hand in Mondo's hair, running his fingers over the back of his head and neck in a way that sent shivers up the bikers spine. His other was on Mondos arm, resting on his bicep for now but was actually in a deceptive dormant state ready to police where the biker was allowed to touch him. 

Mondo was hovering over him, straddled over one of his legs, making sure not to be too eager to press his knee between the moral compasses legs. Their bodies weren't quite together, but there was a nice bit of friction when Mondo dipped down to get closer and Taka closed the gap, pulling himself up into him. Taka broke their connection and eased himself back flat onto the mattress, a hint of pink cheeks and slightly puffy lips being oh-so inviting to the biker. He chased the red eyed boys lips, retaking them in his own, pushing him into the mattress. He licked the other boys lips, working his tongue into his mouth, and Taka allowed it, groaning softly. Mondo felt a familiar something stirring in his chest. That was something he was quickly realizing he loved. The noises he made were different to girls. Manlier... gruff...kinda husky... not necessarily sexier, but sexy in a different way. 

That was something else that surprised him. When he worked out he liked dudes, he thought his taste in chicks and dudes would be kind of similar but nope. When it comes to either it's practically polar opposites. He definitely goes for feminine chicks. The long curly hair, pretty eyes, big lips, that whole show. But with dudes? When he looks at short, cute Makoto or tall slender Byakuya, with his annoyingly pretty eyes, he feels absolutely nothing. Just straight up doesn't do anything for him. But Taka? Everything about him from the way he carries himself, his piercing red eyes, the way he always kinda looks pissed off because of his eyebrows... _His body_...

Without talking to him he gives off this powerful, intimidating aura. Then you talk to him for longer than five minutes and you realize he's a massive dweeb but that first impression still sticks with you. 

He considered the possibility he was just into thick thighs because Taka definitely had those. But it was the muscular version instead of the cute chubby version he was used to with the girls he had been with. He doesn't wanna die but being suffocated by those hogs he calls legs would be a good way to go.

He made sure to keep his composure. As much as was physically possible when his boyfriend was capable of being super sexy and seemingly into it and then suddenly not interested at all in a split second. Mondo's gotten this far before but he always does something to ruin it somehow. It's been some trial and error but he thinks he's finally gotten the hang of what he's into an what he's not. 

Now he's not a total fuck boy. If Taka doesn't wanna go the whole way right away that's totally fine. But what's the harm in looking for a little hand action? If he's lucky he might even be able to get lips below the belt. 

He slowly, cautiously moved his hand from its position planted on the mattress to Takas side as he sucked on his bottom lip. Running his thumb over his waist a few times and sliding his hand up, taking Taka's shirt with it just a little, revealing a tantalising inch of skin. Mondo brought his hand back down to slide up underneath his shirt but stopping at his ribs, savoring the feeling of his warm skin under his palms. 

What he wanted, was to see every rippling muscle on the moral compass. His abs glistening with sweat and his pecs rising and falling with his heavy breaths. But he was gonna have to be patient. 

Mondo moved his other hand from the mattress to rest on his hip, before sliding it up to join the other under Taka's shirt. Taka arched his back reflexively in a way that made Mondo groan as the moral compass pulled away.

"...That hand was cold." He spoke a little huskily, clearing his throat into his fist. Mondo chuckled an apology, removing the cold hand but moving the other one further around his body to his back. He dipped back down to join their lips again and Taka hummed contently, holding Mondos face in one hand, the other moving up the bikers side and holding his waist, pulling him down closer. Mondo sighed at the action. That was what he has been waiting for. It takes Taka a while to get into it but when he does, he honestly kinda yanks Mondo around and _man, is it **hot**. _

He flashed back to the last time things were getting heated and Taka full on grabbed his hips and pulled their bodies together, his strong hands holding him there while they kissed. But then when Mondos fingers hovered over the waistband of his pants and asked Taka if he wanted to kick it into the next gear, all of a sudden the moral compass had _"things he really should be getting back to."_

Mondo wished he would just talk to him. If he's shy about having sex, they can work passed that. Hell, he's kind of nervous about doing it with a dude but his nerves are pretty overtaken by his excitement.

But he figured the best way to go about this was to talk about it instead of trying and hoping he catches the hint. He pulled back, separating their lips and moved back down to kiss just beside his lips, then down his jaw.

"Wanna fool around a little?" Mondo spoke as he kissed along Taka's jaw, gently biting where it met his neck.

He felt Taka gulp under his lips. Although when he spoke it was his typical confident tone, just quieter. "I thought that was what we were doing." 

Mondo chuckled, kissing down to his collarbone, pulling Takas half unbuttoned shirt to the side to reveal the skin. "You consider anything you do with me that isnt studying ' _fooling around_ '."

"I could argue my definition of the phrase is more accurate than yours." He matter-of-factly said as he gently ran his fingers through Mondos hair, scratching his nails along the back of his head. 

Mondo scoffed, fingers tracing circles on Taka's hip. "Well my definition is more fun." He shuffled down a little to kiss Taka's chest, trailing kisses down between his pecs. Sliding both his hands down to his hips, thumb grazing along where his bare skin met his pants. He shifted right down to where Taka's shirt had rolled up, just at the edge of his ribcage and pressed another kiss to his abs, leaving a trail of them down below his bellybutton. The moral compass flinched.

"Ah-...Wait Mondo... I..." Taka started gently, suddenly realising what was happening. Mondo caressed the moral compasses hips comfortingly.

"Dude it's fine, blowjobs are great. You'll like it." He paused with a shrug. "I mean I've never done it before but I've gotten a bunch so I reckon I can replicate it." He gave the other boy a sly grin and moved to press another kiss his abdomen.

Taka propped himself up onto his elbows before shuffling back, out from underneath Mondo and sitting up. "I don't want you to-...I just, don't want to do that." He stammered, flustered, hands shaking slightly as he went to button up his shirt.

Mondo let out a short laugh, moving forward, kneeling between Taka's legs and gently grabbing the other boys wrists as he fumbled with his shirt. "Dude, _babe_ , It's fine, you dont have to be so nervous. It's just you and me here." He smiled when the moral compass ceased his frantic dressing and took a deep breath, somewhat relaxing his arms in Mondos hold. 

Mondo gave an over-exagerated sigh moving a hand to hold Taka's face, running his thumb over his cheek. "Ok my fault, I jumped the gun a bit. Maybe oral is too much for your first time, I'm sorry." 

Taka exhaled, shoulders visibly relaxing. "It's... fine. _I'm_ fine. Don't worry about it." He leaned his face into Mondos touch, expression still something that Mondo wasn't used to seeing on him. Hesitant...uncertain.

Mondo hummed, pulling the other boy in and pressing his lips to his neck once again. He shuffled closer, slotting his knees under Taka's legs and settling himself down on his butt, his legs loosely crossed in front of him with Taka in the middle. He dropped a hand, grabbing Taka's thigh and gently bringing him closer so his knees were arched over either side of Mondos hips. 

"This ok?" he pulled back a bit and smiled at the moral compass. This was a pretty PG-13 position. Theyre sitting close but not on top of each other and the only parts that were touching are hands and thighs. Mondo mentally patted himself on the back. The black haired boy hesitated before nodding. It was weird that he didn't say anything but Mondo took the nod as his go ahead. He moved a hand to Taka's side, his other cupping the side of his face while he kissed and occasionally sucked on his neck. 

****

Taka wasn't doing anything. Just sitting there, still and stiff. Mondo frowned, caressing his cheek. "Hey just relax alright? I'll take care of you." He pressed their lips together and when they parted, Taka let out a shaky breath, nodding slowly and even more slowly, bringing his hands up to loosely hold his bicep and his shoulder.

 _This is fine._ Taka told himself. _This is what you're suposed to do in a relationship._

Mondo nipped a spot on his neck that he knew the other boy liked and Taka shuddered, reflexively stiffening up afterwards, eyes wide open, not that Mondo could see. 

It's not like he hasn't felt attraction for the biker before... at least he thinks he might have. He definitely likes it when they kiss... and things have gotten pretty heated before and he didn't mind that either...

Mondo slowly brought a hand inbetween them and skillfully unbuttoned Taka's pants with one movement. Slowly pulling the zipper down, hand dropping from the other boys face to hold around his back.

Maybe he'll like it... That's happened before. He thinks he's going to hate something before he tries it and ends up liking it.

He tried to ignore the way his heart was hammering against his ribs and thumping in his head.

Mondo kissed up his jaw and brought their lips together again. Taka squeezed his eyes shut when Mondos fingers slid down along his abdomen and under the waistband of his briefs.

****

Taka flinched violently, involuntarily curling in on himself, his forehead hitting Mondos chin. Mondo immediately retracted his hand, eyes wide, heartbeart picking up speed.

"Wha?! What happened!? Are you okay?!" He put his hands on the red eyed boys shoulders, ignoring his now sore chin. 

Taka was wide eyed, staring down at the space between them. Suddenly his face contorted in frustration, clamping a hand over his eyes. He pulled his legs back from over Mondos hips, crossing his calves over each other.

Mondo felt something twang in his chest looking at him, he gently tried to pull him into a hug. "Hey, hey it's alright, I'm sorry, this doesn't have to happen right now." 

Taka didn't budge. "I'm not sure I want it to ever happen." He said quietly, looking down into his lap.

"Huh? What do ya mean?"

Taka grimaced. "I mean I'm not sure if I'm ever going to like...that."

He sighed almost angrily although it wasn't directed at Mondo. "I've tried to be interested. I've tried to do what the rest of you do and just masturbate and watch porn but whenever I even consider it, I just feel... _gross_."

Listening to the rant, Mondo scratched the back of his neck, warily eyeing the other boy. "Don't you think you're overreacting just a lil?"

Taka stared at him, face vacant, eyes piercing. Mondo felt nervous under that stare, but not the fun kind.

Mondo quickly clarified. "I mean-...You're a virgin yeah?"

Taka took a few seconds to respond, staring at him deadpanned. "Yes Mondo, what a very astute observation."

...

...

 _Uh oh_.

_That was sarcastic._

Since when is Taka ever sarcastic!? Holy shit he must have thouroughly fucked up. How does he fix this? Think idiot.

"I-...just meant like...You don't know unless you try amirite?" Now even his voice sounded nervous. Fuck dude pull it together.

Taka very slightly narrowed his eyes. "Ok but what if I have no interest in trying?"

Mondo furrowed his eyebrows at that, staring back, completely vexed.

"Well why not?" He didn't mean to snap. "If you're having some fucken sexuality crisis leave me the fuck out of it. You're not the only one who had a weird time coming to terms with liking dudes."

Taka let out an uncharacteristic grunt. "It's not about _that!_ It's about-... _Ugh_ , I don't know..."

Mondo shrugged. "If you dont even know did you consider _maybe_ you're just being a prude because you were raised to be all prim and perfect?" Mondo gestured to him up and down and when he looked back up, Taka's eyes were zeroed in on him.

"Ok. So _hypothetically,_ what if that's the case? If I'm just ' _being a prude_ '? Is that a problem?" Taka's expression was stern, a steeled gaze boring into him. Voice now the same tone he uses when he's telling off delinquents in the halls. He would know, he used to be one of them. Mondo felt nervous again. "...Because if it is, then we should end this before it goes any further." 

The words hit him in the chest like a round from a shotgun. He felt a coldness at the back of his neck like someone had just put ice down the back of his shirt. 

Taka's face instantly softened once he had said it but he made no effort to take it back. He just turned his head, biting the inside of his cheek. 

Mondo was shell-shocked, staring at the red eyed boy as he stood up from the bed, fixing up his clothes. He managed to snap himself out of his stupor before Taka started to walk for the door. 

"H-hey wait. You're... not serious right? Yer joking. This ain't that big a deal is it?" 

Taka finished buttoning up his shirt, slipping his jacket back on. "I don't know Mondo, it seems pretty important to you so you'd probably be better off getting it from someone else." 

He started to walk away and Mondo leapt up, grabbing his wrist. "J- just wait a sec! I don't wanna go to anyone else, you're the one I fucking like dammit." The biker gently tugged his arm to prompt him to turn around. " 'M sorry ok? We can work this out, don't be crazy."

Taka snapped his head around, red eyes piercing through him. He wordlessly looked down at Mondos hand around his wrist and Mondo took that as a sign to let go. He exhaled through his nose and released his grip. The moral compass relaxed his face slightly, eyes turned towards the ground. "I-... I'm not in the right headspace to have a civil conversation about this. It's late, I need to sleep. We can try again some other time." 

Before Mondo could even think of a reply, the door to his dorm opened and closed, leaving the biker alone with his regrets.

" _Fuck!"_

He fell backwards onto his bed, palms over his eyes. "Fuck you're such a fucking idiot."

Safe to say Mondo didnt sleep much. He managed to get a couple of hours right before his alarm clock went off. He lay there as usual, hitting his clock when the alarm went off for a second time.

He glanced at the clock on his bedside table.

7:30am

Taka's usually here by now. Even before they got together he'd come by and make sure he was up and getting ready. They'd swing by the cafeteria to get something for breakfast and then they'd go to class, normally with some other classmates they ran into in the cafetiera.

He waited a bit longer. Maybe he slept in. He glanced at the clock again as it was nearing eight o'clock.

_Oh who am I fucking kidding?_

He cursed to himself and got ready, dragging his feet to class by himself. He'd probably only just make it before the bell rang. 

When he got to homeroom he saw that Taka was already there, sitting at his assigned desk, writing in one of his books. No doubt catching up on the studying he didn't do last night. But he looked different. Not anything about his appearance, but his _aura_ was off. This was confirmed by Hiro sitting behind him, waving what looked like a lit handful of sage over his desk, fanning in Taka's direction.

His usual straight posture was replaced with a closed-off hunch over his desk, his head down but not enough to hide that his _"resting model smolder",_ as Hina put it, was now just thin lipped irritation, like he was mad at his books. 

As soon as he entered, every eye was on him, his class noticing the very clear change in the moral compass and all coming to the conclusion that it was his fault. Glowering at nothing in particular, he made his way to his desk and slumped down on his chair, folding his arms over his chest. It wasn't long before a certain red head sidled up next to him, lightly punching his arm.

"Dude what happened? You break up already? You beat Byakuya's two week guess but Celeste had you going for at least a month before you called it quits." Leon's hushed voice still grated his ears. A Mondo who slept last night might have punched him. He knew he was teasing but he honestly wasn't in the mood.

"Nun'ya fucking business." Was all he muttered until a much rougher punch landed on his other shoulder. He flinched and glared up at the one responsible. Hina returned the glare back down at him. "What did you do?" she hissed accusingly, trying to keep her voice down. "He didn't do role call or the homework check! He just walked in, put the class list on the front desk and told everyone to check their own name off."

Oh fuck he's really done it huh.

Mondo groaned, sinking lower under his desk. He put a hand over his face, whispering into his hand. "I'll-...tell you fucken...later- just-... not now alright?" He strained, the attention making his chest burn. 

Leon nodded and Hina conceeded, giving another much lighter punch to his shoulder. "Fine. Lunch-time ok?"

Mondo slid his hand down his face with a sigh. "Yeah, yeah... alright."

Perfect timing, their teacher walked in right as Leon and Hina were returning to their desks and Mondo spent the rest of the morning staring at the moral compass who hadn't spared him even one glance. 

How did he fuck up so bad that the most trusting, forgiving person on the planet wouldn't even look at him? He knew he had to apologise. More than that, drop to his knees and beg for forgiveness. Daiya would be appalled if he heard he pressured a girl like that, so it shouldn't be any different for a guy. But he couldn't exactly apologise if Taka wouldn't even look his way.

When class ended, Mondo waited outside the class for Taka. He usually stayed behind to speak with their teacher about anything that needed organising. It was only a few minutes before the moral compass emerged, double-taking at the biker from where he was leaning against the wall. 

Mondo practically flew from the wall to walk in step with the red eyed boy. "Hey, hey are you alright? You looked...uh...well kinda pissed off during class." He scratched the back if his head and Taka sighed, looking directly ahead as they walked.

"I'm not mad... just...frustrated." He huffed out a short breath, glancing at the biker for a second before looking down at his wristwatch. "I'm sorry but don't have time for this now." 

Mondo raised his hands in front of him. "Wait, just wait. Lemme say something first." His pleading eyes on the moral compass. 

Taka didnt say anything but he also didn't walk away, so he took that as a wordless 'Go ahead'.

The biker took a deep breath. "I shouldn't have treated you like that. I was a total dick. It's just 'cuz you're super different to other people I've been with but that doesn't matter. We can wait however long you want. I won't try until you're comfortable, I promise." Mondo gently reached out for the moral compasses hand, curling his fingers around paler fingers. Taka looked down at their hands, bitting the inside of his cheek again.

"Ugh... _Mondo_..." His voice sounded a mix between sad and frustrated. "...That isn't the problem."

The biker raised an eyebrow, shrugging helplessly. "Huh? What do you mean that's not the problem?" He tightened his grip on his hand without really meaning to.

Taka looked back up at the biker "I... can't explain it. I just really don't want to talk about this."

Mondo pursed his lips. "Well _I do_! C'mon! Don't you wanna fix this?" He grabbed Taka's hand and pulled it up between their chests. When Taka pulled his hand out of his grasp, it felt like he took his heart with him.

"It isn't something we can ' _fix_ ' Mondo, it's just how I am, I can't change it. I'm sorry that I can't explain it better than that right now." He sounded so composed, like he'd already decided this was hopeless. 

Mondo couldn't find a response, his mouth just hung open stupidly, his nonexistent reply stuck in his mouth.

So that was it? He's just giving up? Can't think of a solution so we're just done? What kinda bullshit is that? Can't fix what? 

Mondo doesn't even understand what he's talking about.

"Can we talk later? I'm tutoring today, you know that." Taka adjusted his books in his arm, meeting the bikers eyes once more.

He would have kept arguing, but the moral compass looked adamant. He reluctantly conceeded, shoving his hands into his pockets, averting his eyes. "Yeah, fine. Whatever."

Taka started to walk away but paused, gently putting a hand on Mondo's arm, then disappeared down the hall. 

They didn't have another class together that day since it was a Friday which meant Taka had all his advanced classes. Which meant Mondo was left to wallow until lunch time when it was time for him to confess his sins to his friends.

When he was done recounting his conversations with Taka, he looked to the three he had invited to the chat. Leon and Chihiro looked a little confused, but more in the way they just didn't know how to put their thoughts into words. Meanwhile Hina looked like she was ready to throw hands.

" _God_ you're an idiot." Hina reached over the table to slap his arm, face brimming with disapproval. Mondo growled at the amount of abuse he's recieved from the swimmer today. Not that he's saying he doesn't deserve it but that doesn't mean he can't be pissed about it.

He snapped an unintentionally whiny "What?" at the swimmer and she sat back, folding her arms, rolling her eyes.

"It's not about him being upset you were pushy about having sex. He's upset that you want something he doesn't know if he can give you!"

Mondo stared back at her, completely vexed by her attempt at an explanation. "What does that even _mean!?"_ Mondo leaned over the table, hand clenching at nothing in the air in front of him. He turned his head when the reluctant baseball star responded instead. 

"Dude I think he was trying to tell you he's ace or something." Leon spoke quietly, scratching the back of his head. Mondo gave him a perplexed look. "What the fuck is an _ace?_ "

Chihiro chimed in, the gentle voice a nice change. "Well some other things can fall under the same spectrum but predominantly, it's someone who doesn't like sex." 

Mondo just blinked at the programmer, clearly bemused and Chihiro continued with a soft, sympathetic smile. "Like I said, that's not necessarily it. There's a bunch of other sexualities that fall under a similar space but have fundamental differences." A pause followed by a thoughtful expression fell on the programmers face. "But from what you said, it sounds like what Taka was trying to say."

Mondo replayed Taka's words in his head with a new perspective. 

And suddenly felt even worse.

"Well _...fuck_... Why didn't he just _say_ that?" Mondo put a hand to his forehead, staring at the table.

"Seems like he did, you just misunderstood him for being shy." Hina sighed, her face seeming a little calmer finally. "He probably knows even less about this stuff than you do. I'll bet he wasn't sure how to explain it to you."

Mondo let his head fall to the table with a thud, his hand falling on top of his head, scratching it tiredly. 

Before long he lifted it, a new found look of determination on his face.

 _"Ok._ How do I fix this then?" He looked over his friends and they looked to each other, eventually speaking through Leon.

"Educate yourself my dude. For your sake and his. God knows he ain't gonna go searching for this sorta stuff." The red head gave a supportive smile and the biker sighed and nodded. He's never studied a day in his life but if it's for Taka he was willing to do it. 

Chihiro showed him some good sites to get information from and brought them up on Mondos e-handbook. The biker spent the rest of the day going through page, after page, after blog post and specific sites dedicated to talking about how it's different and hard to decipher or understand if you are it or not. 

Reading about some other peoples stories made Mondo really feel for Taka potentially going through the same thing. The confusion and the guilt. He saw far too many linked articles purely about _"How to tell my partner I'm asexual."_ like it was something horrific that needed to be revealed. The next part that made him feel like garbage was the accounts of people having sex because "They felt like it was what they were _supposed_ to do." and not because they liked it. Mondos just thankful Taka didn't cave before he found this out or he'd probably never forgive himself. 

It got late enough that he decided it was best to wait till tomorrow. He just sent Taka his usual "G'night x" text and Taka responded with "Good night." without any exclamation points or emojis a grandpa uses. Mondo frowned but figured it was better than nothing.

Taka has a busy schedule. He likes getting things done efficiently and he'll only upset him more if Mondo interrupts him to vomit a poorly worded apology when he'd rather be being productive. So instead he just fell down the rabbit hole of anything that could possibly be relevant to Taka.

In the morning Mondo woke up after about two hours of sleep, having set his alarm for when he knew Taka woke up. Disgustingly early despite the fact that today was a saturday. He got up, got ready and messaged Taka. He deleted and re wrote the message what felt like twenty times before be eventually decided on;

**"Could I come 2 ur room please?"**

He sat on the edge of his bed, his knee bouncing until he got a response after about thirty seconds. Even when he's mad, he's never not gonna be a quick replier. 

**"Of course. I'll unlock it for you."**

The biker took a deep breath and immediately grabbed his e-handbook and left his room, turning to the right and stopping out front of the room beside his. Even though it was just one wall separating them, it felt like a hundred miles when Taka was upset with him. He reached for the doorknob and turned the handle, the door opened and he pushed himself inside, eyes instantly falling on Taka, standing a the foot of his bed, tucking in the sheets in his usual white outfit. The moral compass turned his head to him, standing up straight, giving him a small smile.

"...Hello."

"Hi..." Mondo sounded almost breathless. It was such a relief to just talk to him again even though every inch of his body still felt so tense. 

He walked a little closer but kept a fair distance, glancing from Taka to down at his handbook. "So I...uh..." God he doesn't know how to start. He'd been rehearsing this in his head all night but now he was in the moment his brain was fucking empty.

He waved over at the bed. "Could we sit? I uh... have a lot to say." 

Taka suddenly looked very nervous but nodded, gesturing for Mondo to go first. The biker obliged, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and Taka followed, sitting fairly close to him but still further away than Mondo wanted. As he was trying to put his research into words, Taka surprised him with a short sigh.

"I'm sorry Mondo, I've made everything so complicated. If you don't want to do this anymore I completely understand and I won't hold it against you." His voice was clear of any shakes or uncertainty but his face was having a harder time concealing it, his jaw trembling ever so slightly on his regular expression. It became abundantly clear Taka had been thinking about their past few conversations too, given the slight hint of tiredness under his eyes. 

Mondo blinked in shock, shaking his head a bit too quickly, holding up a hand and waving it as well for added emphasis. "What? No! No that's not it. The total opposite! I ain't gonna give up just because this is something new that's kinda confusing." 

Taka pushed his shoulders back, puffing out his chest, eyes burning with determination. "I don't want to give up either. I'm sorry I said what I said yesterday as well as the other night. I didn't mean it. I'm just...I really just don't know what to say." Tears shimmered in his eyes.

Mondo took a deep breath and held up his e-handbook. "I know, that's why I-...I looked up some stuff for you. I thought about what you said and tried to match it up with some stuff in here." He shuffled a little closer and started scrolling through the website that jumped out to him the most.

Taka stared on, more than a little surprised at how the biker was acting. Curious about what he was referring to. Mondo pointed to a part on the screen.

"Here in the FAQ part..." Mondo started. Taka bit back a smile at how the biker literally said 'Fack' instead of 'Frequently Asked Questions'. 

_"...A commonly used term for those who feel attraction to boys and girls but not necessarily sexual attraction is... bi-ro-man-tic..."_

He sounded out the word, clearly foreign to his tongue. The way he was reading out the information was like he was trying to translate it from a different language. It was honestly precious. 

Mondo eyebrows furrowed in frustration as he read out a part he didn't really understand but still wanted Taka to know because it was on this very informative LGBTQA+ website and he needed Taka to know that he supports him so he spent literally all night reading about this stuff so he didn't sound like a complete moron.

He paused reading and skimmed through the website a little, Taka just looked on, a swelling feeling growing in his chest. 

Taka knew Mondo was completely clueless to this sort of thing. Not out of an impudent ignorance but just because he was so laid back. When they first got together Mondo had mentioned he doesn't bother with a label and just "sorta goes with whatever." Taka only wished he could be that carefree.

Not that he felt he needed a label, more so, it was nice having the confirmation that there were other people having the same questions as him and that he didn't have to fit into a neat box of traits and attributes. 

"...But then there's this other one... _A de-mi-sexual...is someone who only experiences sexual attraction after a strong emotional connection is formed."_ His face contorted, visibly confused but kept going regardless. "...B _eing asexual does not necessarily mean you can't experience sexual attraction or can't enjoy arousal. Sometimes it means there are criterias that must be met before engaging in it."_ He quietly murmured the parts after that he deemed irrelevant, his voice raising again once he found the relevant information. _"Alternatively Grey-A are people who indentify somewhere inbetween sexual and asexual because they only rarely experience sexual attraction. Some only like giving rather than recieving stimulation. Both of these fall within the asexuality spectrum."_

Taka couldn't wipe the fond smile off his face as his boyfriend hunched over his e-handook that looked amusingly small in his hands, eyes frantically darting back and fourth, re reading parts before speaking. His murmuring drawing out longer as he skimmed passed the parts that didnt apply to Taka.

The moral compass took the long stretch of near silence to speak. "Any of this making sense to you?" He asked fondly, tilting his head at the biker who let out a sigh, as if Taka's voice had released him from some sort of spell forcing him to read.

"Honestly every third word or so is going in one ear and out the other but I get the gist. Shit's a spectrum and it doesn't fucking matter." He stiffened as soon as the words came out of his mouth, eyes widened and his hands shot up in front of him in a panic. "Unless it matters to you! Then I care and I support it!" He clarified frantically, a suddenly worried expression taking over his features. 

The moral compass sighed softly, looking to the side and the bikers shoulders slumped, a grunt escaping his lips. "Look I-... I'm really sorry about before..." He kept his eyes on Taka's even though the other boy wasn't looking.

"I just-" He grunted again, shifting his position on the bed, folding a knee in to face his boyfriend. "...Some stupid part of me got offended or... defensive... I dunno. I didn't think about the fact that it was just something you were feeling and it actually had nothing to do with me."

He shuffled closed and hesitantly at first, but soon moved with more confidence as he reached out for Taka's hand, pulling it closer to hold between his hands. "I _really_ fucking like you in case that wasn't obvious. I wouldn't do all this reading for just anyone." He firmed his grip around Taka's hand, inspired to continue by the red eyes meeting his. "I just want you to know that whatever you figure out or maybe even if you don't, it's totally ok and I still wanna be with you. Because who the fuck else would I wanna be with? I'm pretty sure there's no one on this hell hole of a planet that gets me like you do."

When Mondo finished talking, or more forced himself to stop because he realised he was just gonna keep rambling. They sat there smiling at one another. Taka broke the gaze to look down at their hands, curling his fingers around the bikers, smile fading a little.

"...Thank you Mondo. This really does mean a lot to me but..." 

Mondo gripped his hand tighter. "Hah? ' _but'?_ No, no 'buts', whats wrong?" Mondo firmed his face, scanning over the other boy worriedly. Taka just let out another sigh.

"It's just that you're a normal teenager! You have needs and urges. You shouldn't need to put up with me." 

Mondo cut in before Taka could keep talking. "It ain't _'putting up with you'_ , it's _dating you_ and I'm enjoying every minute of it." He let a small grin onto his face. "If anything, all I have to ' _put up with'_ is you giving me detention despite the fact we're dating."

Taka's face grew deadly serious. "If I start making exceptions this school will fall into anarchy."

Mondo chuckled and Taka's lips quirked up just a little, gazing to the side. "I mean it though. I understand you're giving things up for me and if you change your mind I won't be mad."

Mondo bit the inside of his lip, wordlessly urging the other boy to meet his eyes again by leaning into his vision. "I'm not a fuckin' animal, I can live without it."

Once they mad eye contact again, he continued. "I didnt start dating you specifically so we could hook up and I'm sorry I made you think otherwise. I'm a loudmouth and a dumbass, we both know this." 

Taka's smile returned, warm and bright. "You aren't a _dumbass_." He mimicked Mondo as he spoke the mild curse word. 

Mondo twisted his lips into a mock offended grin. "I see you have nothing to say about the loudmouth part." 

Taka shrugged "Well y'know-" He couldn't finish with a straight face and turned his head to chuckle. Mondo bit his lip at the sight, trying to force back what must have been a stupidly goofy grin.

He ran his thumb over the top of Taka's hand to get his attention again. Red eyes met his and he took a second to find his words.

"Everything else we've been doing... You're okay with that right? Besides from what happened yesterday. If there's anything you didn't actually enjoy just tell me and I'll never do it again I promise." He locked his eyes onto the moral compass with determination, making his promise as a man. 

Taka shifted on the bed, moving closer to him, putting a hand on the biker face. "All of that was fine. Better than fine. I wouldn't have let you do anything I didn't enjoy."

Mondo felt a weight fall off his shoulders. "Ok good. Just making sure." He spoke quietly, his eyes darting down to savour the warm smile on the other boys face. Taka closed the gap between their faces, pausing just before contact.

"May I kiss you?" Taka's voice was so damn soft. A tingle ran up the bikers back on instinct.

"You fuckin better..." Mondo barely whispered and when their lips touched, he felt relief wash over him. Every stiff, fatigued muscle was instantly released of all tension. Mondo sighed into the kiss, raising his hand to cup Taka's face. 

Pulling back slightly, he smiled before glancing at the clock, turning his head and clearing his throat. "Did you wanna go grab some breakfast? I could eat."

The moral compass hadn't moved away, still gazing over the side of Mondos head. 

Mondo felt fingers on his chin that turned his head back to face the other boy, Taka connecting their lips once again. Mondo inhaled, kissing back enthusiastically until a hand on his chest pushed him backwards, breaking their contact. The hand staying planted firmly on his chest until Mondos back hit the bed. 

The biker stared up at Taka, a blush taking over his face as the moral compass grinned down at him, leaning down to hover over him. 

"Later." Was all he said, dipping down to kiss him again. Mondo was more than happy to oblige. 


End file.
